PJ @ University of North Texas

Pink Jacket was invited to speak to students at the University of North Texas. Luckily, we have two alumni on staff! Both Ryan Wilson and I graduated from UNT out of the (brand new, at the time) Digital Retailing department. We went to go speak to students in a Consumer Psychology course about branding – something Pink Jacket knows VERY well.

One of the key engagements we conducted with the students was a Q+A session. These students had some thought-provoking questions, considering they are coming from a younger generation, with an outsider’s perspective of the Marketing universe. Let’s peek at four of the more interesting questions that were brought up and some of our responses.

What does a typical day look like at Pink Jacket?

Everything and anything! No, truly. I think one thing that is interesting to note is that life at an agency is always changing day-to-day. It depends on what time of year, what time of the month, new clients onboarding, etc. The PJ team has tasks varying from client meetings, content building, site designing, copywriting, technical calls, in-person photoshoots, email calendar building, and once a month, every month, we put our analytic hats on for Reporting to track the success of our efforts. In short, if you crave variety, working at an agency might be for you!

To be in the marketing industry, do you have to be more left-brained or right-brained?

This one is an interesting question because all the Pink Jacket team members have backgrounds in Music, Arts, and other creative endeavors. But all it really takes is being open-minded. There are so many facets of the marketing multiverse, and there is absolutely a need for some of those hard and soft skills like technical expertise, analytic capabilities, and communicating your ideas successfully to potential and current clients.

Our best suggestion is to be open to learning new skills in this industry.

Is there a written protocol you use when building strategies for new clients?

In short, no. Our clients run the gamut from restaurants, e-commerce, brick, and mortar retail stores, B2B and even music festivals and national brands.

Even within the restaurant industry specifically, the strategy will need to be tailored to each brand’s specific audience, location, and identity. Now, if you want to talk about a marketing calendar, Pink Jacket believes in building a dedicated space where we create the strategies for our clients. For example, an event like a music festival will be built around ticketing timelines like pre-sale, lead up to general on-sale, and then full on-sale. Other tasks and timelines happen during the festival and post-festival. Having a thoughtful approach throughout the year drives the attendance and buzz.

How should you handle a social media blunder? (After we discussed some infamous marketing fails.)

Preferably, don’t let it happen in the first place. Content calendars and approvals processes are the firewalls for this type of blunder. There are many things that are not relevant for the company to comment on or involve themselves in. Natural disasters, trying to be too cheeky with your marketing (Think Burger King’s “Women belong in the kitchen” tweet), and even national tragedies or trending hashtags that you haven’t taken the time to explore for context.

Pink Jacket is so happy to work with the next generation of talent, especially when those students are as bright and inquisitive as the UNT students. We love the opportunity to transfer as much knowledge as we can with these talented students, especially when it comes to interns. Thank you to Mrs. Zorola for inviting us to revisit the department that I personally went through, and learned under so many professors that instilled a love of the eCommerce and marketing worlds.